Episodes

Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered by a water boy who serendipitously stumbled on a buried staircase in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings on 4th November, 1922. It marked the greatest triumph in archaeologist Howard Carter’s career, and unearthed dozens of priceless treasures. The loot included the famous golden death-mask – but also the Pharaoh’s walking sticks, linen […]

The Crystals hit number one with their version of Gene Pitney’s ‘He’s a Rebel’ on 3rd November, 1962, but it was actually another of Phil Spector’s girl-groups, The Blossoms, who had recorded the song. The two groups never even met, until awkwardly posing together for Spector’s iconic Christmas album cover. Lead singer Darlene Love, realising

Nat Turner, leader of the deadliest slave rebellion in U.S. history, was captured on 30th October, 1831. For over two months, he’d hidden out in the woods of Virginia, having led a violent uprising that terrified white Southerners and electrified the enslaved population. When finally caught, by farmer Benjamin Phipps, Turner was armed only with

Margaret Thatcher finally opened London’s first ring road – construction on which had begun in the 1970s – on 29th October, 1986, declaring: “I can’t stand those who carp and criticise when they ought to be congratulating Britain on a magnificent achievement and beating the drum for Britain all over the world”. A 58-page commemorative

George IV’s impressive Library included all the novels of Jane Austen, for whom he had a particular fondness. But what was not known (until a receipt was discovered in the Royal Archives in 2018) was that the Prince Regent had almost certainly been Austen’s very first customer – buying a copy of ‘Sense and Sensibility’

The brutal murder of Alan R. Schindler Jr. on 27th October 1992 revealed the harsh realities faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in the military. Schindler, a young Navy radioman, who suffered bullying and isolation due to his sexual orientation, had attempted to report the harassment, but faced obstacles due to the military’s exclusionary policies on gay

Peyo’s comic album ‘Johan and Peewit’ provided the platform for The Smurfs’ debut on 23rd October, 1958 – a cameo that their Belgian creator considered an unremarkable side-hustle. But the tiny blue creatures (“Schtroumpfs”, in the original text) went on to become a global cultural phenomenon. Within a year, the Smurfs got their own stories,

Jesus failed to show up on the day that came to be known as ‘The Great Disappointment’ – 22nd October, 1844. It was an embarrassment for the New England preacher, William Miller, who had prophesied Christ’s return; and devastating for his 100,000+ followers in North America alone.  Miller had calculated the end of the world

Berated by the tabloids as exhibitionist pornography, Madonna’s coffee table book, ‘Sex’, quickly sold out upon its release on 21st October, 1992. Influenced by artists Robert Mapplethorpe and Cindy Sherman, the book included images of full-frontal nudity, simulated gay sex, mixed race couples, threesomes and trans imagery. Madonna vigorously defended it, in a series of

Losing control of his monoplane at 2,000 ft, First Lieutenant Harold R. Harris made history on 20th October, 1922, when he became the first person to use a manually-activated parachute to save his life. He landed in the grape arbor of a family house in Dayton, Ohio, narrowly missing the occupants, and escaping with just